Vacuum cleaner equipped with disposable bag



May 6, 1958 R. l. LAPPIN' ETAL VACUUM CLEANER EQUIPPED WITH DISPOSABLE BAG Filed July 29, 1955 Meir/07 06922 1:

Jagpzz 9% a iei uZfZ a United States Patent 50 Robert I. Lappin, Marblehe'ad, and Louis Zaig'er, Swampscott, Mass.

Application July 29, 1955, Serial No. 525,283 I V sc aims. 01. 133-43 This invention relates to vacuum cleaning equipment and more especially to a novelcombination of disposable bag and cleaner ofthe horizontal tank type.

The principal objects of the invention are. to provide a vacuum structure and disposable bag in' which the disposable bag may be inserted in and removed from the tank solely by assembling and disassembling the end bell and'tank. Another object of the invention is to provide a structure in which the bell and disposable bag may be removed from the tank without touching the bag and without danger of the. bag being disengaged from the bell so as to spill its contents. Another object is to provide a structure in which the bag can easily be grasped to disengage it from the bell when desired without touching the dirt within it and without spilling the dirt. Other objects are to provide a disposable bag for use'with the cleaner which .is' extremely simple to make, requires no special sealing arrangement at its mouth, is durable and inexpensive.

As herein illustrated the belief the tank has an intake conduit to which the suction hose is adapted to be attached and a portion of the conduit extends inwardly 2,833,372 Patented May 6, 1958 an isometric view of the bag assembled in Fig. 7 is the bell;

Fig. 8 is an isometric view of the bell with the bag fastened thereto ready to be placed in the tank;

Fig. 9 is an isometric view of the bell being removed with a filled bag; and

Fig. 10 is an isometric view of the preliminary steps in disengaging the filled bag from the bell.

7 Referring to Fig. 1 there is shown a portion of a tanktype vacuum cleaner with a tank body 10, within which thereis secured a permanent porous bag 12 and a hell or cover 14 adapted to be attached to the mouth of the tank. The tank and bell are each provided with an inwardly directed flange 16 and 18 adapted to be brought into engagement when the bell and tank are assembled to hold the parts in predetermined relation to each other and suitable locking means is employed to hold the parts together. The bell has through it a conduit 20, the inner end of which extends inwardly beyond the flanges 16 and 18 into the mouth of the bag 12, and has near its inner end a tapered portion 21 which carries a plurality of lugs 22 (Fig. 3). The lugs 22 are struck out of the metal of the tapered portion of the conduit so as to stand outwardly therefrom (Fig. 3) to provide shoulders or hooks 24, behind which the end board of a disposable bag may be snapped as will now appear.

The disposable bag (Figs. 4, 5 and 6) consists of an inexpensive porous paper body 26, the mouth 28 of which is folded outwardly and attached by stitching 30 or other suitable means to a stiff end board 32 made of paperboard. The outer surface of the end board is preferably suitably finished to receive printed matter for both inbeyond. the plane of the mouth of theusual permanent bag mounted withifithe tank so that its inner end actually projects into the mouth of the bag. The inner endof the conduit has on it a plurality of externally protruding shoulders and a disposable bag of suitable dimensions with a stiff end board attached to its mouth and with a central opening in it snapped over the end of the conduit behind the lugs, thus attaching the bag to the bell so that by assembling the hell or removing it the bag may be introduced into the tank for use or removed for disposal. The conduit is slightly tapered near its end to facilitate guiding it into the opening in the end board and the lugs protrude from the tapered portion. Preferably the lugs are struck out of the metal so as to constitute hooks for supporting the bag when the bell is removed from the tank until the bag can be detached. The end board is dimensioned to have .a marginal edge which will extend between cooperating flanges at the ends of the bell and tank to clamp it in place and the body of the bag is stitched to the end board inwardly of its margin so as to be free from the clamping flanges.

The invention will now be described in greater detail with reference to the accompanying drawings wherein:

Fig. 1 is a longitudinal vertical section at one end of a tank cleaner showing the disposable bag assembled in r structions as to use and advertising matter. The end board 32 is dimensioned and shaped to fit into the open end of the bell Hand to have its marginal portion 34 overlapping the flange 16 and preferably to fit reasonably close to the-wall of the bell adjacent the flange. A

centralopening 38' (Fig. 4) is formed in the end board so as to be in registration with the intake conduit 20, when the end board is seated in the mouth of the bell and corresponds substantially in diameter to the tapered portion of the intake conduit behind the lugs, so that when it is forced over the tapered end of the conduit it will be held substantially fixed between the shoulder at the large end of the taper and the lugs. The tapered portion of the conduit assists in centering the board with respect to the conduit and guiding it over the lugs for snapping it into place behind them. The radial protrusion of the lugs 22 beyond the surface of the tapered portion is sufficient so that once the end board is snapped over the lugs it will not become disengaged without purposely manipulating the end board by bending it.

The disposable bags are supplied in lots of a dozen or any suitable amount to a customer in a folded condition, such as shown in Figs. 4 and 5, and are used as follows: First the end bell is removed from the tank as shown in Fig. 7 and one of the bags in its folded condition is placed within the open end of the bell and the stiff end board 32 is forced over the inner end of the conduit 20 so as to engage the marginal edges of the opening 38 behind the lugs 22. The bell is now picked up and the bag pulled downwardly to a substantially vertical position as shown in Fig. 8 and is then inserted into the permanent bag within the tank by placing the bell over the end of the tank and fastening the same in the usual manner. As seen in Fig. 1, when this is done, the marginal edge 34 of the end board is clamped between the flanges 16 and 18. When the cleaner is turned on for use the vacuum established within it pulls the bag open so as to be concentric with the walls of the permanent bag. After use the bag is removed by detaching the bell and removing it from the tank as shown in Fig. 9.

hook-likeshoulders 24'which firmly support it inplace,

thus there is no danger of the bag falling off and of the contents spilling. The bag may be transported to a place for disposal by using the bell to support it;so that the bag itself need not be touched. I When ready for disposal the bag may easily be detached by pulling downwardly on the marginal edge (Fig. 10) so as tobend the board away from the conduit. A decisive tug will disengage the board from the lugs. Since the board seals the mouth of the bag even when detached, except for the small central opening, there is little danger of spilling the contents before it can be dropped into a disposal can.

As previously mentioned the exposed surface of the end board is preferably finished to permit printing'instructions on its face for use of the bag and for receiving advertising information as to its source and availability.

The simplicity and cheapness, characteristic of this disposable bag, are derived principally from the fact that no complicated constrictive seal is required at the mouth of the bag either to maintain a suitable vacuum seal between it and the intake conduit or to hold it on the conduit for disposal. Other advantages are attained by use of a conventional and very simple bag body comprised of a pervious paper which is stitched at its mouth directly to the end board which itself may be produced by the simplest punching operation. 1 1

It should be understood that the present disclosure is for the purpose of illustration only and that this invention includes all modifications and equivalents which fall within the scope of the appended claims.

We claim:

1. The combination with a suction cleaner having a tank provided with an open mouth within which is disposed a pervious bag having a mouth coinciding with the mouth of the tank, and a bell detachably attached to the tank so as to cover the mouth; of an intake conduit to which the suction hose may be attached, said conduit 4 having a portion extending internally into the mouth of the tank, and having a plurality of externally located lugs on its inner extremity projecting radially outward of the external surface thereof, and a disposable open mouth bag, said disposable bag having a stiff end board attached to its mouth with a centrally located hole corresponding substantially in diameter to the external diameter of the conduit adjacent the lugs, the substance of theboard bounding the hole being adapted yieldably to receive the end of the conduit and to snap over the lugs.

2. A combination according to claim 1, wherein the inner end of the conduitis'taperedand the lugs are I toward the inner end of the conduit and shoulders behind their outer ends. p

5. A combination according'to claim 1, wherein the lugs are struck outwardly from the metal of the conduit to provide tanks standing away from the wall with their free ends constituting hangers for supporting the marginal material of the end boardofthe disposable bag.

References Cited in the file of this patent Germany Apr. 25, 1955 

